Common ground dove
Common ground dove | |
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At Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park, Florida, US | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Columbiformes |
Family: | Columbidae |
Genus: | Columbina |
Species: | C. passerina
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Binomial name | |
Columbina passerina | |
Approximate range | |
Synonyms | |
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The common ground dove (Columbina passerina) is a small bird that inhabits the southern United States, parts of Central America, the Caribbean and northern South America. It is considered to be the smallest dove that inhabits the United States. As its name suggests, the bird spends the majority of its time on the ground walking but still has the ability to fly.
Taxonomy
The common ground dove was
There are 17 recognised subspecies:[7][6]
- C. p. passerina (nominate subspecies, southeastern United States
- C. p. pallescens (Baird, 1860) – southwest United States. Males are paler and females have more white on their underbelly.
- C. p. socorroensis (Ridgway, 1887) – Socorro Island, Mexico. They are darker brown than C. p. pallescens and have shorter wings as well.
- C. p. neglecta (Carriker, 1910) – Central America, from Honduras to Panama. They have darker feathers then C. p. pallescens.
- C. p. bahamensis (Bahamas
- C. p. exigua (Mona Island, Puerto Rico
- C. p. insularis (Ridgway, 1888) – Cuba, the Cayman Islands and Hispaniola (both the Dominican Republic and Haiti). Both its back and chest are darker than C. p. bahamensis.
- C. p. umbrina Buden, 1985 – Ile de la Tortue, Haiti. Darker on the back, and the bottom part of their beak is darker.
- C. p. jamaicensis (Maynard, 1899) – Jamaica; has a pale beak with males being very dark on the underbelly.
- C. p. portoricensis (St Croix). Similar to C. p. nigrirostris but the lower part of the beak is red.
- C. p. nigrirostris (Danforth, 1935) – northern Lesser Antilles, St. Croix in the Virgin Islands.
- C. p. trochila (Bonaparte, 1855) – Martinique. These birds have a greyish-green colouration on their chest and have chestnut tail feathers.
- C. p. antillarum (Lowe, 1908) – southern Lesser Antilles
- C. p. aflavida (Palmer and Riley, 1902) – north Colombia, north Venezuela, Netherlands Antilles, Trinidad. These doves are larger than usual, with males having darker brown underparts. Also, both males and females have darker bills.
- C. p. parvula (Todd, 1913) – central Colombia
- C. p. nana (Todd, 1913) – west Colombia
- C. p. quitensis (Todd, 1913) – central Ecuador
Description
The common ground dove is North America's smallest and one of the world's smallest by mass. This species ranges from 15–18 cm (5.9–7.1 in) in length, spans 27 cm (11 in) across the wings, and weighs 26–40 g (0.92–1.41 oz).
The common ground dove's call can be described as soft whoops that increase in pitch. Often the call is heard in repetition and is quite distinct.[9] To hear the call of the common ground dove, see the external links for a link to a website.
Distribution and habitat
It is found in the southern tip of the United States, most of Mexico, parts of Central America, the Caribbean islands and northwestern South America. The common ground dove does not migrate and is a year-long resident in the areas they are found.[10]
The common ground dove lives in open areas that have trees and bushes. They are also found in forests with sandy areas, farmlands, and savannahs and near human infrastructure. Common ground doves seem to hold territories but they are rarely aggressive when dealing with intruders.[10]
Behaviour
Diet
The common ground dove is a ground gleaner; as such it forages on the ground feeding on vegetation, seeds and fruits. It can also feed on insects and snails (including the shells),[11] and will feed from bird feeders if available to them. They often eat while they are still moving and searching for other food items.[7] Common ground doves can suck water into their beak and swallow it by lifting their heads, which is a common feature shared with other members of its family.[7]
Breeding
The common ground dove mates with its partner for life. They build nests on the ground in vegetation or sometimes slightly off the ground in bushes. Their nests are quite simple, usually just a slight groove in the ground surrounded with plant material in a simple manner. The nests in bushes often are a simple structure of twigs and vegetation that are often fragile.
References
- . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- ^ "Sperlingstäubchen (Columbina passerina)". Avibase. Retrieved May 17, 2013.
- ^ Linnaeus, Carl (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1 (10th ed.). Holmiae:Laurentii Salvii. p. 165.
- ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
- ^ von Spix, Johann Baptist (1825). Avium species novae, quas Brasiliam anus MDCCCXVII - MDCCCXX (in Latin). Vol. 2. Monachii [Munich]: Franc. Seraph. Hübschmanni. pp. 57–58.
- ^ Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (2020). "Pigeons". IOC World Bird List Version 10.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
- ^ a b c d Bowman, R. (2002). Common ground dove: Columbina passerina. The Birds of North America 645:1–23.
- ^ "Common Ground-Dove". allaboutbirds.org.
- ^ a b National Geographic (2006). Field Guide to the Birds of North America. (5th edition). Jon L. Dunn and Jonathan Alderfer. pp. 246–247.
- ^ a b c "Common Ground-Dove". allaboutbirds.org.
- ^ "Columbina passerina (Common ground dove)". Animal Diversity Web.
- ^ Passmore, Michael F (1984). Reproduction by Juvenile Common Ground Doves in South Texas. The Wilson Bulletin 96(2): 241–248.
- ^ Bowman, Reed and Woolfenden, Glen E (1997). Nesting chronology of the common ground-dove in Florida and Texas. J. Field Ornithol. 68(4): 580–589.
External links
- Audio recordings of Columbina passerina on Xeno-canto.
- Common Ground Dove at Encyclopedia of Life
- "Common Ground-dove media". Internet Bird Collection.
- Common Ground-Dove photo gallery at VIREO (Drexel University)
- Interactive range map of Columbina passerina at IUCN Red List maps